Junior Samuel Agbessi from Sterling and sophomore Angel Gonzalez from Triton had big 400-meter hurdles races for Rowan at different meets on Saturday.
Agbessi ran 52.93 at the Embry Riddle Invitational in Daytona Beach, Fla., just off his lifetime-best 52.82 from a meet in Chester, Pa., last May. His high school PR at Sterling was a 55.06 when he placed 2nd at the state 2023 Group 2 meet at Delsea.
Agbessi’s time makes him No. 8 in NCAA Division 3 so far this year. This was his first 400 hurldes race since he ran that 52.82.
At the Ursinus Springfest in Collegeville, Pa., Gonzalez dropped a PR 54.02, lowering his collegiate PR nearly 1 ½ seconds from a 55.47 from a meet last year in Collegeville. He’s now No. 17 in NCAA Division 3. Gonzalez did run a 55.31 at Triton in a meet at Delsea in May 2024.
Another Rowan sophomore, Jordan Lawton of Passaic County Tech, ran 54.90 at Ursinus. His PR is 54.08 from a meet last April in Atlanta, and freshman Ashraf Maklache from Cherry Hill East ran 55.23 at Ursinus in his first college race.
Agbessi, Gonzalez and Lawton are ranked 2nd, 3rd and 4th in the NJAC and Maklache is 6th and the No. 1 freshman. TCNJ’s Nate Adams from Middlesex High ran 52.55 in Atlanta two weeks ago.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 